Thursday, 27 June 2013

Author Interview: Karen Greco

About the Author:

An award-winning playwright, Karen Greco has spent close to twenty years in New York City, working in publicity and marketing for the entertainment industry. A life-long obsession with exorcists and Dracula drew her to urban fantasy, where she can decapitate characters with impunity. HELL'S BELLE is her first novel.

A little bit of both. I work from an outline, although it's an outline that would make my 7th grade history get all finger pointy. But there are times that I do totally digress from it. For this book, for example, I added a bunch of chapters after it came back from my editor. I needed to slow the pace down. And those were definitely not in the outline!

Do your characters ever want to take over the story?

Yes sometimes they do. I won't let them hijack it though.

What is your favourite food?

Ugh that's tough! In a fantasy world where I can eat anything I want, it is a cheeseburger and fries seasoned with sea salt and cilantro.

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

I was a night owl, and then I had a kid. Now I am a morning person, but not by choice.

Where do you dream of travelling to and why?

I want to go to Italy and the South of France. I want to eat amazing food, drink incredible wine and enjoy a much slower pace. I also want to go all over the UK. I absolutely love London and have a load of friends from Scotland, and I've never been there!

Do distant places feature in your books?

If you consider Rhode Island a distant place, then yes! But it's nothing glamorous. And I love the idea that the wild and exotic can exist in such a sleepy little state.

Do you listen to music while writing?

Sometimes music sets the right mood for me to write, and sometimes it's a huge distraction. My playlist is all over the place. I'll listen to hardcore metal one day, and then I'll listen to some sort of trance/trip hop. The one artist that inspired me with this book was Concrete Blond (and I am totally dating myself now). There's a mystical quality to their music that struck just the right tone.

Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?

Hell's Belle is about a woman who is half vampire--she's not undead yet, but will be once her time's up. She's part of a top-secret government agency overseen by the Department of Defense that quietly takes care of supernatural problems. She moves back to her hometown after spending her childhood, and most of her adult life, on a military base. Her arrival triggers a series of events that spell trouble.

What have you learned about writing and publishing since you first started?

Oh wow. Everything. I started writing as a kid -- but I wrote mostly plays. I stopped for a very long time, to focus on my "day job" and because I just became disillusioned with theater, and the absolute power that a very select group of critics have over the careers of playwrights. I never felt like I had the discipline to write a novel, but a few years ago I decided to just try. I had a few false starts, but ended up with Hell's Belle. But I don't think that I could have done this in my 20s. I didn't understand what made a compelling story. I wanted to write only what I thought was interesting, and not what made a good story that would engage an audience. Years and years of working in entertainment, and spending a lot of time learning what stories worked and what stories didn't work,that was my MFA in writing.

Is there anything you would do differently?

I wouldn't have given up writing. I have a nasty inner critic that I really need to stifle. She's a bit of a pain.

Who, or what, if anything has influenced your writing?

I am influenced by loads of things. Politics, random news stories (I am a news hound), religion (particularly religions that use a lot of ritual), urban legends. I am also very visual, so often a photograph can trigger an idea.

Anything you would say to those just starting out in the craft?

Silence your inner critic. As writers, we can really be our own worst enemy. Surround yourself with honest but supportive family and friends who can beta read for you. And listen to their criticisms of the work. You don't have to follow their advice, but you should take it in and honestly assess if it could make the work the work stronger.

What are three words that describe you?

Strong, funny, empathetic.

What's your favourite book or who is your favourite writer?

Another tough one! My absolute drop-dead favorite book is Wuthering Heights. I've read it a million times, and watch every film or TV adaptation, I don't care how awful it is. And I could not put down Game of Thrones. The writing is incredible. I wish I could write that sort of epic fantasy, but I just don't have that gift. The plotting is so intricate, and how Martin is weaving all these different stories together, is just extraordinary. I am also a fan of the series. I think Benioff was the right guy to adapt it for the screen. He's also a novelist, and I think he understands the limitations of both mediums and has found a way to make both of them co-exist comfortably, so that even when he diverges from the books, it's still comfortable and organic. You don't hear too many complaints from the GoT purists, which is kind of rare when it comes to TV or film adaptations.

Blurb of your latest release or coming soon book

Half-vampire, half-human, Nina Martinez spent most of her life underground as part of an elite secret team of government agents who quietly take down rogue monsters -- the human world none the wiser. She moves back to her hometown of Providence, RI to keep an eye on the recent uptick in supernatural activity, and to help run the bar she co-owns with her aunt. Her attempt at a “regular” life, not to mention a budding relationship with smoking hot FBI agent Max, is cut short because of a string of ritual murders targeting the city's community of witches.

But Nina's investigation unearths deadly secrets from her long buried parents. Now the target of supernatural assassins, could Nina be the most dangerous vampire hybrid to ever exist? No wonder she can’t get a date.

An urban fantasy set in a decaying Providence, Rhode Island, HELL'S BELLE is a fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled roller-coaster ride through a city on the cusp of becoming an urban wasteland. HELL'S BELLE is an energetic, expansive, and cinematic beginning of a new series in the urban fantasy genre.

Half vampire, half human, Nina Martinez spent most of her life underground as part of an elite secret team of government agents that quietly take down rogue monsters, the human world none the wiser. She moves back to her hometown of to keep an eye on the recent uptick in supernatural activity, and to help run the bar she co-owns with her aunt. Her attempt at a “regular” life, not to mention a budding relationship with smoking hot FBI agent Max, is cut short because of a string of ritual murders targeting the city's community of witches.

But Nina's investigation unearths deadly secrets from her long buried parents. Now the target of supernatural assassins, could Nina be the most dangerous vampire hybrid to ever exist? No wonder she can’t get a date.

An urban fantasy set in a decaying Providence, Rhode Island, HELL'S BELLE is a fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled roller-coaster ride through a city on the cusp of becoming an urban wasteland. HELL'S BELLE is an energetic, expansive, and cinematic beginning of a new series in the urban fantasy genre.